Espalier Pear Tree Losing Fruit: What is the Cause?

Q.I have an espallier pear tree that I planted two years ago, it was about 1.5 metres high when planted and is growing quite well. I noticed last year however, that the young/ small fruit was being knocked off on to the ground (early June). This year the same began happening when the fruit was forming so I covered it with bird netting and it seems to have got worse? Any ideas?

(L.O, 8 July 2020)

espalier pear tree against a wall
Espalier Pear Trees are highly trained trees that create a sculptural effect in the fruit garden.
© 2004 Matthew Trump, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons


A.It isn’t clear from your question whether you bought the pear tree ready-trained from a nursery or whether you planted it with the intention of training it yourself, but it sounds like a young tree that needs to be established before it can flourish and produce good crops. We’ll talk about that in a minute but first let’s consider what could be happening.

Examining Tree For Vermin

You say the fruit is being knocked off. Have you examined the stalks carefully for signs of rot or disease or insect attack? You may need to take a magnifying glass to check closely. If you’ve eliminated those possibilities and provided protection against birds, is it possible for hungry vermin to get under the netting?

However if the fruit that has fallen to the ground doesn’t show signs of having been eaten, we have to wonder if it could be a growing problem in this instance i.e. that the fruit isn’t getting the essentials for survival.

Espalier Care in Early Years of Growth

A young tree will take several years to be established and trained. Proper pruning is vital to produce the shape of espalier you want and ensure a strong and healthy tree. If you encourage the tree to grow upwards too quickly, the lower branches will suffer. Branches growing upwards will more easily take nutrients and thus deprive the branches being trained to grow sideways. Timing in the pruning and training is of great importance. Ideally the final diameter of the bottom branch should be twice that of the top branch and in that way healthy fruit will grow and survive at all levels. Care taken in the first few years will be rewarded with a long-living, fruitful and attractive tree.

Ensuring Good Fruit Production

For good fruit production a regular dose of sunlight is important, as is well-drained soil. The tree should be watered especially during dry periods and fed an appropriate food – follow the manufacturer’s instructions. It is also important to keep the area under the espalier tree free from weeds especially grasses.

It takes up to five years for an espalier pear tree to establish and produce a good crop.

6 thoughts on “Espalier Pear Tree Losing Fruit: What is the Cause?

  1. George says:

    Espalier tree bought already trained. I am about to put a trellis for it to grow. But need to stop it growing upwards. Do I just snip the top shoot back?

  2. Alan titchmarsh says:

    I have a pear tree that I have had for five years the first few years it seemed ok then for the past two years it has been getting something that’s called rust or some sort I did spray the tree when it first happened and now it’s started again with the rust starts with a small dot like a rusty colour then turns in to spores of fungus on the leaf I am at a loss as I can’t keep taking leaves off the tree with the rust to slow it down can you please help me

  3. rock says:

    i have a pear tree that came up threw the center of my old pear tree. the old tree was approx. 8o yrs. old and was struck by lightning some years ago .the old was bearing fruit every yr. then it hollowed out and this sprout came out of the center of it .the sprout is about 10 ft. high now.it has small rusty pears every year, but they are only about the size of a quarter and very rusty.

  4. crisal says:

    I have a concord and a conference pear tree, every year some of the young fruit get affected by some sort of insect boring into some of the fruit, I have seen ants on the trees, could this be the cause of some fruit loss ?

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